“Do it again!” I yell, laughing my head off.
“No!” Stephanie’s cheeks are a bright red, her black hair falling over her eyes. She’s giggling too, but hers are way softer than mine. I’m practically chortling. But who wouldn’t? Steph just swore! Our Steph, our innocent little girl, she swore!
“Come on,” I coax, “You have to. We need to make this official.”
I can literally see her eyes widen behind her bangs. “You are NOT telling this to anyone else!” she shouts.
“Oh, I so am.”
Steph lunges across my bed and tickles me to the ground. We’re both laughing too hard by now to even realize that we’re lying on the carpet next to each other. It’s moments like these that remind me why Stephanie is one of my favourite girls in the whole wide world.
“Oh, gosh,” she whispers, “I’m so sorry, Abby. I didn’t realize. Your stomach – shit, I’m sorry.”
“You swore!”
“No,” she hoists herself up by her elbows, “This is serious. I really shouldn’t have tickled you. Does your stomach hurt? Are you okay?” Her eyes are filled to the brim with concern.
I clutch my stomach. “Ouch,” I whimper, struggling to sit up and leaning against my bed.
Stephanie’s hands fly up to her mouth. “Oh, gosh, Abby. Is everything alright?” She looks so close to tears.
“I… don’t… Oh, oh, ouch.” I rub my stomach repeatedly.
“Abby!” Stephanie is full out crying by now. “Should I call your parents?”
“No,” I sit up straighter and flash her an obvious forced smile. “I’m okay.”
--
I don’t call Jasper until the following Saturday. Sunday is the only day my mother allows me an off without cutting my ‘salary’, so I’m hoping Jasper will be free tomorrow.
He answers the call with a jolly “Hurrow!” and for a moment I don’t know what to say.
“Jasper?” I ask timidly.
“Abby!” he sounds ecstatic. Maybe he’s high? “Hey girl! Thought you ditched me or something. When are you coming over?”
Well, at least we aren’t beating around the bush. “Tomorrow, I thought? I mean, I don’t have to work tomorrow, so I can show you around.”
I can hear him grin. “That’s great. Where do we meet?”
“Um…” I didn’t think of this. I tap my pen against the cover of my binder. Mom won’t allow me to walk too far, and I’m way too shy to ask Jasper where he lives. Oh – “What about at the chendol stand?”
“The one we met at?” He chuckles. “How ideal. Sure, that’ll do. What time?”
I feel like I’m calling all the shots, so I ask him to decide instead.
“Where are we going?” he asks.
I hum. “I thought of taking on to the KLCC, of course not up the towers. We’ll pop by and buy the tickets tomorrow, but I have no idea how long the waiting list is. Then we can catch a LRT up to Berjaya and visit the Times Square. But before that we could go to the, uh, the aquarium?” I bite my tongue. “Is that a bit too much?”
“Nope,” he quips, “That’s perfect. So let’s say, we meet at eleven?”
Great, that gives me enough time to attend the morning service at the church. I agree, and after that we disconnect the call. I get up from my desk chair, my heart pumping in my chest out of pure excitement, before jumping onto my bed and squealing into the pillows.
YOU ARE READING
Finding Abby
Teen FictionAbby Mae has been a half-time 'model', half-time 'scholar', and full-time... liar? Trust is a big thing at Newton's High, so what has Abby done to lose it? Three years back, she was the It Girl; now, she's avoiding the cafeteria, is shunned by the g...
